COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and problematic eating behaviors in a student population

Flaudias, Valentin; Iceta, Sylvain; Zerhouni, Oulmann; Rodgers, Rachel F.; Billieux, Joël; Llorca, Pierre Michel; Boudesseul, Jordane; Chazeron, Ingrid de; Romo, Lucia; Maurage, Pierre; Samalin, Ludovic; Bègue, Laurent; Naassïla, Mickaël; Brousse, Georges; Guillaume, Sébastien

doi:10.1556/2006.2020.00053

Cited by 160 publications

(188 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Participants living by themselves, as well as participants reporting more than one stressful life event (e.g bereavement) were more likely to fall into this group. Notably, lockdown measures have been linked to disordered eating behaviors commonly seen in eating disorders, such increased restriction of food intake and binge eating behaviors [32]. Further, patients with eating disorders have described lockdown as detrimental, reporting disruption of routines and decreased feelings of control which increased worries about their illness [33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults

Herle

Smith

et al. 2021

Clinical Nutrition ESPEN

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Background & Aims The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the implementation of stay-at-home and lockdown measures. It is currently unknown if the experience of lockdown leads to long term changes in individual’s eating behaviors. The objectives of this study were: i) to derive longitudinal trajectories of change in eating during UK lockdown, and ii) to identify risk factors associated with eating behavior trajectories. Method Data from 22,374 UK adults from the UCL COVID-19 Social study (a panel study collecting weekly data during the pandemic) were analyzed from 28 th March to 29 th May 2020. Latent Class Growth Analysis was used to derive trajectories of change in eating. These were then associated with prior socio-economic, heath-related and psychological factors using multinomial regression models. Results Analyses suggested five trajectories, with the majority (64%) showing no change in eating. In contrast, one trajectory was marked by persistently eating more, whereas another by persistently eating less. Overall, participants with greater depressive symptoms were more likely to report any change in eating. Loneliness was linked to persistently eating more (OR= 1.07), whereas being single or divorced, as well as stressful life events, were associated with consistently eating less (OR= 1.69). Overall, higher education status was linked to lower odds of changing eating behavior (OR= 0.54-0.77). Secondary exploratory analyses suggest that participants self-reported to have overweight were most common amongst the consistently overeaters, whereas underweight participants persistently ate less. Conclusion In this study, we found that one third of the sample report changes in quantities eaten throughout the first UK lockdown period. Findings highlight the importance of adjusting public health programs to support eating behaviors in future lockdowns both in this and potential future pandemics. This is particularly important as part of on-going preventive efforts to prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults

Herle

Smith

et al. 2021

Clinical Nutrition ESPEN

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“…Previously published evidence also suggests emotional over-eating and emotional under-eating are responses to anxiety [40]. Effects of anxiety on maladaptive appetitive traits may be even more pronounced due to the additional stress and worry of the COVID-19 pandemic [2,9,23,41]. Moreover, there may be a bi-directional relationship between anxiety and appetitive traits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Anxiety is associated with appetitive traits in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Coakley

Silva

et al. 2021

Nutr J

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Background COVID-19 has impacted mental health globally, however, associations between anxiety and appetitive traits during the pandemic are unreported. This study evaluated anxiety symptom severity and associations with appetitive traits in students at a large public University in the U.S. during the pandemic. Methods Current undergraduate and graduate/professional students completed a cross-sectional survey in fall 2020. Demographic information, anxiety symptoms in the past 2 weeks assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and appetitive traits assessed by the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ) were evaluated. Mean scores for eight AEBQ scales (four food approach and four food avoidance traits) were calculated. Differences in mean scores were examined between participants with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 score ≥ 10) and those with mild to no anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 score < 10) via independent samples t-tests and effect sizes. Associations between GAD-7 score and individual appetitive traits were also examined, adjusting for age and gender. Results Of the 1243 students who completed the survey (57% undergraduates; mean age = 26.5 years), 51.9% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Groups experiencing the highest degree of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms included transgender, gender fluid, and other-gendered participants (73.6%); the youngest age group [18–20 years (62%)]; undergraduate students (60.7%); and Hispanic/Latinx participants (57.7%). Participants with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms had higher scores for most food approach and avoidance traits but lower scores for enjoyment of food than those with mild to no anxiety symptoms. Effect sizes were largest for hunger and emotional over-eating (Cohen’s d = 0.31 and 0.30, respectively). Adjusting for age and gender, GAD-7 score was significantly and positively associated with hunger, emotional over-eating, food and satiety responsiveness, and food fussiness and negatively associated with enjoyment of food. Conclusions Over half of students at a U.S. University reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms during COVID-19. More severe anxiety symptoms were associated with increased hunger, emotional over-eating, and food and satiety responsiveness and decreased enjoyment of food. Universities must consider strategies to address anxiety, particularly in younger students; transgender, gender fluid, and students of other genders; and across race/ethnicities keeping in mind associations with appetitive traits.

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“…Indeed, stressful life events were positively associated with extreme weight control behaviors and binge eating (Loth et al, 2008), which have been identi ed as signi cant precursors of eating disorder onset, maintenance, and relapse (Degortes et al, 2014;Grilo et al, 2012). Moreover, stress was associated with a greater likelihood of binge eating and dietary restriction during the COVID-19 epidemic (Flaudias, 2020). A previous study showed that the perceived severity of COVID-19 was associated with less perceived controllability (Li et al, 2020), which may trigger a sense of stress (Lazarus, 2006).…”

Section: Perceived Severity Of Covid-19 Stress and Eating Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Home con nement could be a catalyst for disordered eating behaviors (Brown et al, 2021). For instance, in a sample of 5738 French undergraduate students, home con nement was associated with more binge eating and dietary restriction (Flaudias, 2020). During the COVID-19 lockdown, the sense of hunger and satiety changed for more than half of the population, in the manner of less/increased appetite and eating more than usual (Di Renzo et al, 2020;Kriaucioniene et al, 2020;Owen et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism between the perceived severity of COVID-19 and eating problems. Disordered eating is likely to be impacted by the pandemic through multiple pathways (Flaudias et al, 2020). Higher perceived severity of the COVID-19 epidemic might increase stress, NA, and PTSS, which may trigger or maintain eating problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

COVID-19 and Eating Problems in Daily Life: the Mediating Roles of Stress, Negative Affect and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Sheng

Yang

Liu

et al. 2021

Preprint

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BackgroundThe 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic poses a challenge to individuals' mental health. Increased stress, negative affect (NA), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) that are being experienced globally may lead to eating problems. The purpose of this study was to explore the impacts of the perceived severity of COVID-19 on eating problems as well as the mediating effects of stress/NA/PTSS both at the within-person level and between-person level. MethodsDuring the COVID-19 outbreak, a total of 108 college students were recruited to report their perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, NA, PTSS, and eating problems 3 times a day for 7 consecutive days using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Results: State perceived severity of COVID-19 predicted fewer subsequent eating problems in daily life at the within-person level. Both state NA and PTSS were positively associated with eating problems in daily life. At the between-person level, trait-like perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, NA, and PTSS were positively associated with overall eating problems. There were no mediating effects of stress/ NA /PTSS on the relations between perceived severity of COVID-19 and eating problems at the within-person/between-person level. ConclusionsThe perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, NA, and PTSS might increase the risk of eating problems.

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COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and problematic eating behaviors in a student population

Cited by 160 publications

References 30 publications

Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults

Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults

Anxiety is associated with appetitive traits in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 and Eating Problems in Daily Life: the Mediating Roles of Stress, Negative Affect and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

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